A new subspecies of Phoenix theophrasti Greuter (Phoenix theophrasti Greuter subsp. golkoyana Boydak) from Turkey

Abstract

In the present study, a new subspecies (Phoenix theophrasti Greuter subsp. golkoyana Boydak) is described in Turkey. The unidentified Phoenix taxon native to Bodrum–Gölköy, Aegean Turkey and named as the “Gölköy Phoenix population” has been known to Gölköy’s inhabitants for centuries. The Gölköy Phoenix population was considered to be representative of P. theophrasti. Boydak made the first of a number of trips to Gölköy and immediately noticed some distinct differences between the Gölköy Phoenix population, P. theophrasti Greuter, and Phoenix dactylifera L in the early summer of 1990. He continued his investigations on this taxon for many years to shed light on the subject. He made two new trips to the three native stands of P. theophrasti and the Gölköy Phoenix populations in 2015 and 2018. Measurements and observations were made on the morphological characteristics that showed distinct differences among the Gölköy Phoenix population, P. theophrasti, and P. dactylifera. These were related to the length of male stalks and female inflorescences and some fruit and seed characteristics. The results indicate that some distinctive morphological characteristics of the “Gölköy Phoenix population” merit its being described as a new subspecies. “Phoenix theophrasti Greuter subsp. golkoyana Boydak” differs from P. theophrasti Greuter with respect to its longer fruiting-female stalk length and longer male stalk length, its fruiting stalks hold fruits marginally higher, and its having seeds with slightly visible striate surface crust structures and deeper-wider grooves.